Packaging machine



Dec. 4 1923.

PACKAGING MACHINE L. L. SALFISBERG 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 as 5 5 sq Dec. 4 1923; 1,476,222

L. L. SALFISBERG PACKAGING MACHINE Filed Oct. 19. 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet a Patented Decw 3 1923.

near stares LEROY 1L. SALFISBERG, F NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR T0 IVERS-LEE COMPANY,

0F NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION 01E DELAWARE.

PACKAGING MACHINE.

Application filed October 19, 1929. Serial No. 418,048.

T 0 all whomz't may concern:

Be it known that l, LEROY L. SALFISBERG, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented an Improvement in Packaging Machines, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to an improvement in packaging machines, one object being to provide article feeding apparatus whereby the articles to be packaged may be rapidly and efiectively delivered from a hopper in position to be packaged.

Une form of apparatus embodying my invention is illustrated in the drawings accompanying the present specification, in which- Figure 1 is a view in vertical longitudinal section, and

Figure 2, a front elevation. Referring more particularly to Figure 1,

the articles to be packaged may conveniently be held in a hopper 1 having an inclined bottom 2, said hopper being arranged to discharge through an opening in one of its side walls into a drum 3 rotatably mounted on the framework 4 of the apparatus. Adjacent to the inlet end of the drum 3 is an adjustable partition 5 having an aperture 6. The partition 5 may be supported in po sition by means of a hollow shaft 7 supported at one end in a wall of the hopper and adapted toreceive a rod 8. This rod 8 carries at its inner end a gate 9 operatively arranged with respect to the opening 6 in thepartition 5. By rotating the rod 8, it is possible to var the extent of said opening 6, thus contro ling the volume or number of articles passing from the hopper to the interior of the rotating drum 3 and by rotating the hollow shaft 7, the position of the aperture ,6 may be changed; For conven ience in gaining access to the interior of the feeding apparatus, the bottom wall of the hopper is provided with a removable cover 10'. v

The rotating drum 3 is preferably arranged with its longitudinal axis inclined with respect to the vertical axis of the hop per 1 so that there will be sufficient pitch to permit movement of the articles through said drum by gravity. Rotation of the drum is effected by suitable means here shown as a toothed member 1-1 secured to the peripheral surface, the teeth meshing with a gear 12 which is driven preferably by some suitable connection with the source of power used for actuating the packaging machine. Secured to the inner surface of the drum is a spider member having a central hub 13 and radiating spider arms 14- arranged at an angle to the axis of the hub. A cover supporting rod 15 is mounted in the hub 13 and carries adjacent to its exterior end a cover plate 16 slidably arranged on the rod 15 and cooperating with suitable fastening means such as a nut 17 adapted to retain the cover plate in any desired-position longitudinally of the rod 15.

The drum 3 is provided adjacent to its discharge end with a flanged portion 18 extending an appreciable distance beyond the peripheral opening of the drum and forming with the cover 16 a peripherally arranged article receiving channel communicating with an article guiding throat 19. In operation, articles are delivered from the fixed hopper 1 into the rotating drum 3 through which they move by reason of the motion of rotation together with the force of gravity toward the discharge end and into the above mentioned peripherally arranged channel where, if desired, they assume a nearly vertical position, it being understood that the present apparatus is designed for selecting and feeding articles of venous sizes and shapes, the distance between the flan 'e 18 and the cover plate 16 bein regulatable to permit the passage of artic es in position to move freely into the throat 19 and in any desired predetermined relative. positions. An article supporting member 20 is arranged adjacent to the discharge opening of said throat and in opera tive relation to an. article selecting member or picker 21 havin article en a-ging arms 22, said picker beiri g actuated by any suitable gear adapted to connect the same with the driving mechanism of the packaging apparatus.

'With feeding apparatus of the character above described, it is desirable to provide means for keeping the tablets or articles in motion so that the feeding operation may be uninterrupted by congestion or constriction at any point, and more particularly at the inletopeningof the throat 19 where said throat communicates with the article guiding channel formed between the cover plate 16 and the peripheral flange 18. For this purpose, an endless belt 23 engages the the Opening which lies opposite the opening of the throat 19. At each sideof this position is a roller 24 mounted on a slidable bracket 25 having a slot 26-, the edge of said slot cooperating with the head of a bolt 27,

thus permitting the adjustment of and the securing of the roller in any desired position. The remainder of the continuous belt is supported by means of rollers 28 and 29,

the rollers 29 being capable of movement toward and awa from the rollers 28 for the purpose of tightening or loosening the belt 23. To this end, rollers 29 are mounted on a movable'member 30 having a centrally arranged threaded recess adapted to receive a threaded bolt 31 passing through, a portion of the frame-work 32 of the machine. To tighten the belt 23, the bqlt 31 is turned in the proper direction to move the roller supporting member 30.

To permit free movement of rotation of the drum 3, the same is supported upon a number- 'of roller bearings including forward bearings 33 engaging the peripheral flange 34 and rear bearings 35 engaging the eripheral surface of the drum adjacent to its intake end. Thus, when the drum is rotated by means of suitable driving mechanism, it is effectively retained in operative position by means of the rollers described. I

In operation, it has been found that relatively various articles, such as different types of candies and other tablets, can be rapidly and effectively-fed by means of the apparatus hereinabove described, one advantage of the apparatus being that there is no interference with the continued flow of articles into the throat 19. This feature is of great importance inasmuch as many forms of feeding apparatus heretofore devised for the urpose of feeding individual articles have een effective only as long as the operator could prevent congestion or blocking of the discharge openings. The

apparatus of the present invention which accommodates articles of various shapes and sizes operates without clogging "and I delivers the articles through the discharge openings provided in arapid and effective manner.

I claim as my invention:

1. Article feeding apparatus comprising a rotatable article conveying drum, a peripheral article receiving and positioning annular recess at the discharge end of the drum, a recess closing member movable with the drum and arranged to present an article discharge opening fixed as to position with respect to the drum.

2. Article feeding apparatus comprising rotatable drum having an outwardly cle discharge opening fixed as to. position with respect to the drum and means for adjusting the extent of said discharge opening.

3. Article feeding apparatus comprising a rotatable article conveying drum', a peripheral article receiving and positioning annular recess at the'discharge end of the drum, a recess closing member movable with the drum and arranged to present an article discharge opening fixed as to position with respect to the drum and means for adjusting the position of the recess closing member with respect to the drum.

4. Article feeding apparatus comprising an article conveying drum, means adjacent to the discharge end of said drum for ar ranging articles in predetermimed position, a discharge conduit in article receiving relation to the article arranging means, and article engaging and moving means operatively arranged with respect to the receiving end of the conduit and moving in one direction at one side of the conduit and in the opposite direction at the other side of the conduit.

5. Article feeding apparatus comprising an article conveying drum, means adjacent to the discharge end of said drum for arrangingarticles in predetermined position,

ber spaced from the drum and adjustable to- Ward and away from said drum, means for securing said member in operative position, and means peripherally engaging the drum and the closing member to retain articles in predetermined position between the drum and said member, and means for discharging articles from the article arranging means.

7. Article feeding apparatus comprising. an article carrying rotatable drum having a peripheral annular article receiving recess at its dischar e end of greater diameter than the normal d rum diameter, and means for rotating said drum to move articles therefrom into said recess.

8. Article feeding apparatus comprising a rojecting flange adjacent to its discharge End,

naraaaa a (5 a drum cover spaced from the discharge end and from said flange to form a recess between said flange and the cover, and a recess closing and article engaging member operatively engaging both the cover and the flange over adjacent ortions of their peripheral surfaces, and means for rotating the drum and moving said recess closing member with the drum.

9. Article feeding mechanism comprising a rotatable article container having an inclined article supporting surface and a recess positioned to receive articles discharged from said surface, and an endless belt positioned to form an article supporting surface of said recess.

10. Article feeding mechanism comprising a chute, an endless belt positioned to move articles toward the mouth thereof at one side of the chute and away from said mouth at the other side thereof.

it, Article feeding mechanism including a single flexible conveyorpresenting an article supporting surface adjacent to an article delivering opening and means for actuating said conveyor to move articles toward said opening at one side thereof and away from the opening at the other side thereof.

12. Article feeding mechanism including a single flexible conveyor and means for supporting a portion thereof in the form of an annular loop, inner portions of said loop presenting article supporting surfaces at both sides of? an article discharge opening and means for actuating the conveyor to move articlesgon one side of the opening toward the same and articles on the other side away therefrom.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification this 11th day of @ctober, 1920.

v LEROYL. SALFISBERG. 

